Lucie growled.
“Hello, humans.” A barely disguised chuckle in the smooth voice behind me. “Allow me to delight you with my presence.”
I hid my face in my hands.
“Oh my god.” Elyssa turned in her chair, eyes widening at the woman. “Are you Zafyra?” she asked with an admiration that bordered on reverence.
Zafyra’s smirk widened, obsidian eyes flickering to me before she answered. “I see my name precedes me.”
I hated the sting in my stomach, the way my grip on the armrests tightened. I knew Zafyra was beautiful, but only I was allowed to notice that. And today, she was dressed more decently than I had ever seen her – a hip-length leather coat held together with a belt around her waist, her long legs ending in knee-high black boots. I couldn’t help but glance down, wondering if she was wearing a skirt underneath or had decided the coat functioned as a skirt.
Probably shouldn’t think about it, given how the thought made heat rise to my cheeks.
Joey clenched his teeth, glaring at Zafyra like he wanted to burn her on the spot. “It’s not hard to forget you when you intended to strangle me to death through Raphael’s body,” he hissed. Raphael grunted at the memory.
“Why are you here, Zafyra? You are not invited to this meeting,” he said flatly. Although less vocal about it, the disapproval on his face matched Joey’s. Then, his eyes darted to the man next to her – I only now noticed she wasn’t alone. “And who is the punk?”
“Oh, right.” Zafyra followed his gaze as if she’d forgotten her companion. “This is the missing piece you’ve been looking for.” She wiggled her eyebrows before dropping her voice an octave. “An insider.”
Lucie’s jaw dropped, though her suspicious gaze remained. “You got an insider from Qonexis?”
“Oh, no.” Zafyra pursed her lips – barely veiling her amusement. “I see my little acolyte has not properly enlightened you yet. No, not from Qonexis, my dear – those guys at Qonexis know nothing of value.” She rolled her eyes, clearly not sharing Lucie’s fear-turned-rage or Raphael’s semi-ironic reverence for the company that made her. “But I did some digging, and I found out Qonexis is nothing but the gateway to the true villain.” She paused, eyes flickering to me and then back to the guy, who uncomfortably crossed his arms. “This young man is a developer at Somanode.”
Chapter 29.
Lucie spat out a mouthful of her lion’s mane matcha latte. Raphael’s hand flew to his chest, and Joey’s eyes widened.
Zafyra eyed the two empty chairs – one next to me, the other at the head of the table – before lowering herself into the chair beside me.
My entire body tensed in her proximity. I lowered my gaze, trying not to breathe in the scent of fresh moss and truffle – a scent that somehow seemed even more intense today.
The newcomer didn’t sit. He rubbed his exposed arms, his finger pausing at what looked like a slight bump just below the edge of his sleeve – barely noticeable. Apart from his messy bunch of dark hair, green at the edges, he looked unassuming – skinny, pale, posture slightly slouching.
“No offense, but why should we trust you?” Joey snarled, not taking his narrowed eyes off Zafyra. “How am I supposed to believe you didn’t just pick a random man from the streets to throw us off our trail?”
The guy jumped slightly. “Yeah, he’s right.” He nervously glanced at Zafyra. “They don’t believe us, so maybe this is a bad idea, and I should just—”
“Sit. Down,” Zafyra spoke through gritted teeth. Her voice was soft, but the command in it sent a shiver through me – and to him as well. She snapped her fingers and pointed to the empty chair at the table’s head. My eyes followed the movements like a magnet. “Don’t forget our deal, Sybrand.”
“Deal?” Raphael muttered quietly, his brows furrowing. “That does not sound good.”
Sybrand flinched. He hesitated. We all held our breaths.
Then, with a sigh, he sank down into the chair.
Joey cleared his throat, still not taking his glare off Zafyra. “Just making sure. You’re not going to strangle me today?”
Zafyra hesitated. She tilted her head, looking to me as if this was a decision she needed to consult me for – but I deliberately kept my gaze focused on the kombucha. The blend of reishi and blue pea flower was supposed to soothe my nerves, but no amount of organic blend could calm the storm her presence stirred inside me.
“Morgan says your interest in her is strictly platonic, so I believe her,” she said finally – her fingernails lightly digging into her leg. Mygaze followed their movements with fascination. “Further assassination attempts shouldn’t be necessary.”
“Oh, wow.” Joey raised his eyebrows. “Weird way to apologize, but how generous of you to allow Morgan to have friends.”
I fixed my eyes back on my drink like my life depended on it. I hated the concern in Joey’s eyes – like Zafyra was someone to protect me from. As if he doubted my ability to make my own decisions, like everyone around me had when I was young. Even more, I hated how it made me doubt myself. Was Zafyra proof of my poor life choices? What was the point of all this therapy if I still fell for a woman like her?
“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to wrap my head around all this.” Elyssa quietly cleared her throat, casting another nervous glance at Zafyra. “Where did you even find this guy?”
“Not hard to find if you know where to look.” Zafyra reached out to snatch Lucie’s drink out of her hand and take a big sip before putting it back. Lucie’s jaw dropped, and she glared as if she were about to say something about it before tightly pressing her lips together. “While you all were going back and forth about the next steps, I was searching the city’s unified OS that I still have access to, as well as your wristware.” She leaned back in her chair, slowly crossing her legs. She caught me staring and winked, much to my horror. “So I spent the past few days doing my research, then waited until you were all about to meet up before giving Morgan the heads-up.” She pursed her lips, zoning out for a moment. “Breaking through Somanode’s encrypted communication channels was the biggest roadblock, but unfortunately for them, I do like a challenge.”
